Palmer mayor sees parks in every neighborhood

May 10, 2005

JOEL DAVIDSON/Frontiersman reporter

PALMER - Several years ago, before he was ever the mayor of Palmer, John Combs strolled through the narrow streets of a bustling Palmer neighborhood while campaigning for a seat on the city council.

He saw kids bicycling and playing in the streets and throwing Frisbees and footballs across the road. As he watched the kids, Combs got an idea. Why not have a city park in every neighborhood in town?

"Kids like to get together and play, but there wasn't any place for these kids to go," Combs said Monday as he stood near the site of the first new neighborhood park. "We're still on the front end of a large growth phase in Palmer. We haven't got concrete everywhere yet, so why not put a neighborhood park in each new development?"

Two summers ago, after logging more than 100 hours of research, Combs convinced his fellow city council members to pass a neighborhood parks ordinance that would set aside land in each new neighborhood for a little park.

Combs researched how cities in the Lower 48 established, maintained and insured neighborhood parks. The city drew from some of those ideas in forming its own approach to park building.

The ordinance works in one of two ways. Developers can pay the city $200 for each house they build in a subdivision. That money then goes into a fund for purchasing park land. In lieu of the $200 fee, developers may opt to designate a certain equally valuable portion of their development for a park.

So far, Combs said the city has raised about $20,000 a year over the last three years. This summer, the first park will be completed on Daron Drive, in a neighborhood behind McDonald's in Palmer.

Combs said the time to build parks is now, before city land is developed.

"There's some places where they had to tear down houses to build parks," Combs said, referring to research he's read. "It makes more sense to buy the ground before we get a big building on it."

Currently the park on Daron Drive is just an empty grass lot. Due to a foreclosure, the city already owned the property. City employees cleared and hydroseeded the land last summer. Rick Koch, manager of public works, said he expects to have picnic tables, benches, a sandbox and a couple of dozen trees planted by mid-summer.

"I'm ordering the equipment this week," Koch said Monday.

The equipment will cost roughly $10,000 for the 20,000-square-foot park. Combs said he'd like to see residents of the neighborhood actually come out and help install the equipment and plant the trees.

"As soon as we get the equipment here we will get a notice out to people to dig holes and plant," Combs said. "I think it's integral to get the neighborhood involved because then they take more initiative in the park."

According to Combs, there are already several other parks in the works. Brittany Estates subdivision has one lot reserved for a neighborhood park and Cedar Hills subdivision may soon have a lot set aside as well.

When different parks are established, Combs said they will likely each look a little different depending on the lay of the land and what the neighborhood wants.

As the parks project develops, Combs said it will be a long-term investment - one he hopes will enhance the quality of life in Palmer.

"It's things like parks and ball fields that make towns livable," Combs said. "Everyone's got to work but we also need a place to play."

Contact Joel Davidson at 352-2266, or joel.davidson@ frontiersman.com.